Juan Gallinal Gets 8 Years for Online Pill Mill Scheme

A former Virginia police officer turned crooked pharmacist has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for masterminding one of the country’s most brazen online pill mills. Juan Gallinal, 49, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, exploited the nation’s opioid crisis by transforming a small storefront pharmacy into a digital drug empire, flooding communities across America with hundreds of thousands of unregulated narcotics.

U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes called Gallinal one of the ‘founding fathers’ of the illicit internet pharmacy trade, accusing him of profiting off addiction while hiding behind shell companies, a fake owner, and encrypted servers in Switzerland. Between 2009 and 2012, his operation—branded as ‘Discount Pharmacy’ and later ‘A-1 Pharmacy’—shipped hydrocodone, phentermine, alprazolam (Xanax), and codeine-laced Tylenol 4 to thousands without valid prescriptions. In Washington State alone, nearly 200 customers received illicit deliveries.

The scheme raked in over $9 million. The pharmacy operated four websites, charging up to ten times the market rate for drugs. When no real prescription existed, Gallinal and his crew scoured public databases for doctors in the same area with similar names, then forged prescriptions using stolen DEA numbers—without the physicians’ knowledge. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones slammed Gallinal for betraying his duty, noting he’d once seen firsthand the devastation of drug abuse as a law enforcement officer.

In June 2012, the DEA moved in, seizing servers, websites, and drug stockpiles. By April 2015, Gallinal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to distribute via the internet, conspiracy to introduce misbranded drugs, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and destruction of records. He also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of more than $1.9 million.

Gallinal was the final defendant sentenced. Judge Jones branded him the “orchestrator, conductor, composer and chief engineer” of a criminal machine built on deceit. Co-conspirators already locked up include Craig Greer, 43, of Hollywood, Florida (60 months); Kevin Kogan, 48, of Cedar Park, Texas (30 months); Jordan Truxell, 26, of Davie, Florida (12 months); Thomas Brooke, 54, of Cooper City, Florida (60 months); and Ali Lovins, 44, a registered nurse and office manager, who got 36 months.

The takedown was part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation, pooling federal and state resources to dismantle Gallinal’s transnational network. Authorities say the case underscores how criminals weaponize the internet to feed the opioid epidemic—while lining their pockets with blood money.